Asiyah the Pharaoh’s Wife

Heidi Mahmoud

16 May 2018

Anas [may Allah be pleased with him] Narrated: that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "Sufficient for you among the women of mankind are Mariam bint 'Imran, Khadijah bint Khuwailid, Fatimah bint Muhammad and Asiyah the wife of Fir'awn (Pharoh)." [Sahih (Darussalam), Book 49, Hadith 4252]

As it is shown in the Holy Saying, three of the mentioned women are related to the Prophets of Allah (PBUTh) except for Asiyah, the wife of the despot Pharaoh. Nevertheless, she is the adoptive parent of the Prophet Moses' (PBUH). As it is mentioned in different chapters of the Holy Quran, Pharaoh, the absolute ruler of ancient Egypt, used to kill newborn babies of the people of Israel. When the Messenger Moses (PBUH) was born, his mother panicked that he would meet his end at the hand of the inhumane Pharaoh. However, Allah inspired her to put her son in a chest and throw the chest in the river to save him from being slaughtered by Pharaoh as Allah Says: “When We inspired to your mother what We inspired,”, “[Saying], 'Cast him into the chest and cast it into the river, and the river will throw it onto the bank; which will take him an enemy of Mine and an enemy of his.' And I bestowed upon you love from Me that you would be brought up under My eye.” [Taha, 38, 39]

Once the infant reached the palace of Pharaoh, the oppressive ruler decided to kill him like the others, but his wife, Asiyah bint Muzahim asked him to spare the baby boy his life, so they could raise him to be their beloved son. Allah Says: “And the wife of Pharaoh said, "[He will be] a comfort of the eye [a source of happiness] for me and for you. Do not kill him; perhaps he may benefit us, or we may adopt him as a son." and they were unaware [of Allah’s plan].” [Al-Qasas, 9]

After growing up, Moses had to run away from Egypt after killing a man by accident; an event that happened before he became a Prophet of Allah. When Moses (PBUH) returned to Egypt, as Allah ordered him, he called people to believe in the Oneness of Allah and to face Pharaoh. Pharaoh did not believe in Moses' Message and disobeyed him, but Asiyah embraced the religion of Moses (PBUH), she became a true believer and was tortured by the brutal Pharaoh. She prayed to Allah to save her from her tyrant husband and his wrong deeds. She hoped to win Allah's reward of entering paradise. Allah says in the Holy Quran: “And Allah presents as an example of those who believed: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, "My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people." [At-Tahrim, 11]

Asiyah set an example for believers to have true faith in Allah despite being under control of an unfair disbeliever and she reached perfection according to the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), "Many men reached perfection but none among the women reached perfection except Mary, the daughter of `Imran, and Asiyah, Pharoah's wife. And the superiority of `Aisha to other women is like the superiority of Tharid (a type of delicacy in Arabic culinary culture) to other kinds of food. [Sahih al-Bukhari 5418, Book 70, Hadith 46]

Learn Quran: Surat Al Bakarah

Surat Al-Bakarah is the second and longest chapter or surah in the holy Quran. It has 289 verses, 6,201 words and 25,500 letters. Its name ‘Al-Bakarah’ means The Cow. The recitation of Surat Al Bakarah has many benefits for Muslims, the most important of which is that Surat Al Bakarah protects those who recite it from the devil and the evil eye. It is known to ward off the devil from the house in which it is recited for three days.

Learn the Quran with Tajweed Rules: The Meem Sakinah

Learn Quran with Tajweed Rules: The Meem Sakinah

In order to learn Quran with tajweed you have to encounter the Meem Sakinah and apply its three different tajweed rules for pronunciation: Idgham with Ghunnah, Oral Ikhfaa also known as Ikhfaa Shafawi إخفاء شفوي and Oral Izhar, also known as Izhar shafawi إظهار شفوي.

Learn Arabic words and phrases: Arabic Numbers (Six to Ten)

We established in part 1 of this article that learning numbers in any language is essential, but since there are an infinite amount of numbers, we will start off with the basics, with which you can form any number. In this article we will continue to learn Arabic numbers from where we left off in our article, ‘Learn Arabic words and phrases: Arabic Numbers (Zero to Five)’. Now we we’ll learn how to write and pronounce Arabic numbers from 6 to 10.